Thirteen itineraries · 3 to 10 days
road and fly-in, from US$1,290
These are the thirteen trips we run most often. Every one starts with a permit we can actually secure on your dates, and is rebuilt around it.
Roughly three quarters of our travellers trek in Uganda, where the permit is US$800 rather than Rwanda's US$1,500 and where a longer safari has somewhere to go. Rwanda wins on speed: two hours from an international airport to the trailhead. The fly-in itineraries are the middle path — Uganda's permit price with Rwanda's travel times.
The collection
Bwindi, Uganda — from Kigali
In from Kigali, two nights on the forest edge, one hour with a habituated family. The most efficient way to see mountain gorillas without paying Rwanda's permit.
3 daysfrom US$1,690 pp
Volcanoes NP, Rwanda
Land at Kigali, sleep in Musanze, trek at seven the next morning. Nothing else in Africa gets you to a gorilla this quickly.
3 daysfrom US$2,450 pp
Bwindi, Uganda — by air
The drive from Entebbe to Bwindi takes nine hours. The flight takes seventy-five minutes. This is the trip that makes a Uganda gorilla trek work on a short schedule.
3 daysfrom US$2,750 pp
Bwindi, Uganda
A shared 4x4 and community-run lodges on the forest edge. The permit price is set by the park — everything around it is where the savings live.
4 daysfrom US$1,290 pp
Bwindi & Mgahinga, Uganda
Gorillas in Bwindi, then golden monkeys in the bamboo of Mgahinga — an endangered primate found only in the Virungas, and the best value hour in Uganda.
4 daysfrom US$1,980 pp
Volcanoes NP, Rwanda
A gorilla trek, an hour with golden monkeys in the bamboo, and the climb to Dian Fossey's grave at Karisoke — where all of this began.
4 daysfrom US$3,290 pp
Bwindi & Kibale, Uganda — by air
Both of Africa's great apes in four days, with light aircraft doing the work that would otherwise take two days of driving between the parks.
4 daysfrom US$3,690 pp
Bwindi, Kibale & QENP, Uganda
Gorillas, chimpanzees, the Kazinga Channel and the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha, in the compact western corner of Uganda.
5 daysfrom US$2,690 pp
Bwindi & Queen Elizabeth — by air
Gorillas in the morning, hippo on the Kazinga Channel two days later, and not one long transfer between them.
5 daysfrom US$4,250 pp
Bwindi & Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda
Two treks, two different families, two different sectors of the same forest — then two nights on Lake Bunyonyi doing absolutely nothing.
6 daysfrom US$2,950 pp
Volcanoes, Kivu & Nyungwe, Rwanda
Gorillas in the north, chimpanzees and a canopy walkway in the south, and the Lake Kivu shore road connecting them. Rwanda is small enough to do this properly.
6 daysfrom US$4,950 pp
Uganda & Rwanda — by air
Two treks, two countries, four of the finest lodges in Africa, and no transfer longer than ninety minutes.
7 daysfrom US$11,900 pp
Across Uganda
The Nile forced through a seven-metre gorge, chimpanzees in Kibale, lions in fig trees, and gorillas to finish. Ten days is the length Uganda actually deserves.
10 daysfrom US$4,380 pp
Fly-in safaris
This is the single biggest planning decision in a Uganda gorilla trip. Entebbe to Bwindi is nine to ten hours by road each way. Scheduled light aircraft cover it in about an hour and a quarter, and there are airstrips at every park worth visiting.
Four of our thirteen itineraries are built around them. On a trip of five days or fewer, flying is usually the difference between a real safari and a very long car journey.
| Airstrip | Serves | From Entebbe |
|---|---|---|
| Kihihi | Bwindi — Buhoma and Ruhija | ~1 hr 15 |
| Kisoro | Bwindi — Rushaga and Nkuringo; Mgahinga | ~1 hr 15 |
| Mweya / Kasese | Queen Elizabeth National Park | ~1 hr |
| Pakuba / Chobe | Murchison Falls | ~1 hr |
| Kidepo | Kidepo Valley, the far north-east | ~2 hrs |
In Rwanda the drive is short enough that flying is rarely needed, but a Kigali–Musanze helicopter transfer takes about 25 minutes against two hours by road. We arrange it on request.
Choosing
The 3-day Bwindi trip from Kigali, by a wide margin — it delivers the trek on an US$800 permit with the least travel time. Among travellers with a week or more, the 10-day Uganda safari is the one people come back and thank us for.
If your time is worth more than about US$400 a day, yes. Entebbe to Bwindi is a nine to ten hour drive each way; the flight is seventy-five minutes. On a short trip, flying converts two days of vehicle time into two afternoons in the forest.
They are starting points, and most trips we sell end up different from the page they started on. Permit availability usually drives the first change; after that it is your pace, your budget and whether you want to add Lake Bunyonyi, Kidepo or Zanzibar.
Send rough dates. We check permit availability, send a costed itinerary, and hold permits once you are happy. A 30% deposit confirms; the balance is due 60 days before travel. Nothing is charged while you are still deciding.
Enquire
We check live permit availability before we reply, so the first thing you get back is a real itinerary rather than a brochure.
A trip specialist replies within one working day. No deposit is needed to have a conversation.